Dark garnet with a ruby rim. Lovely scents of plum, mocha and tobacco regale the nose. Sweet on entry, then nicely delineated, with flavors of plum jam, licorice, mint and tar. Plushly textured, with full fuzzy tannins, this medium-to-full-bodied... Read More
The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard, is a beauty. The healthy ruby/purple color is followed by classic, unevolved but promising aromas of minerals, cedar, smoke, and black currants. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with... Read More
The 1997 Cinq Cepages is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit-Verdot, it boasts a super-complex bouquet of licorice, dried herbs, black currants, spice box, and cherry liqueur.... Read More
Consistently one of the most profound wines of Barsac/Sauternes, this wine, made from 100% Semillon, is one of the most ravishing examples of just how much elegance can be built into a powerful race horse style of wine. The classic... Read More
Sadly only 400 cases were made of the 1997. The nearly perfect 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard was bottled in May, 1999, and appears to have recovered beautifully from bottle shock. Saturated black/purple-colored with... Read More
The dark ruby 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, with a ripe nose of raspberries, tar, and oak spices, is solid, deep, and long on the palate. Plush and with perceptible tar and mineral notes on the fresh finish, it will easily... Read More
The 1997 Dominus, a blend of 86.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4.5% Merlot, is showing fabulously well. With 14.1% alcohol and a pH that would make many New World oenologists shudder (about 3.95), this wine is a... Read More
The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of pure cassis and blackberries with flinty notions in the background. Full-bodied, powerful, tannic, pure, and backward, it needs another... Read More
The 1997 Harlan Estate is one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines I have ever tasted. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this enormously-endowed, profoundly rich wine must be... Read More
The 1997 Hermitage rouge is unusual in its fruit-forward, user-friendly style. The color is a dense ruby/purple. The gorgeous, evolved bouquet of cassis, minerals, herbs, underbrush, and licorice is intense. Creamy-textured, full-bodied,... Read More
A star of the vintage, this classy, cedary, black currant, and sweet cherry-scented, dense ruby-colored Las Cases exhibits a beautiful dosage of new oak, medium body, expansive, ripe, concentrated flavors, plenty of glycerin,... Read More
Mineral, blueberry, plum, and earthy characteristics can be found in the dark purple-colored 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain (700 cases). Soft in the mouth, but full-bodied, dense, and rich, it is an immensely impressive... Read More
The 1997 Chambertin Clos de Beze was harvested at an unheard of (for Burgundy) 14.2 natural potential alcohol. This black/purple-colored benchmark-setter displays saliva-inducing cookie dough and cherry syrup aromas. Immensely... Read More
The 1997 Chambertin Clos de Beze was harvested at an unheard of (for Burgundy) 14.2 natural potential alcohol. This black/purple-colored benchmark-setter displays saliva-inducing cookie dough and cherry syrup aromas. Immensely... Read More
The dark colored 1997 Clos Vougeot, a vineyard that was particularly successful in this vintage, reveals candied red fruit and a myriad of spices in its aromatics. This over-ripe, massively dense, yet fresh and exceptionally well-structured... Read More
Profound red cherry and rose aromas are found in the aromatics of the medium to dark ruby-colored 1997 Grands-Echezeaux. Baked mixed berries and Asian spices are found in this velvety-textured, wide, super-rich, rather thick wine.... Read More
The 1997 Fratta is, as one might reasonably expect, the most forward of these wines. Though quite beautiful, the wine is fairly advanced in its soft dark fruit, earthiness and beef bouillon. It is a pretty, mature wine perfect... Read More
There are 10,200 cases of the remarkable 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. Opaque purple-colored with a dense, chewy, full-bodied personality, it displays abundant cassis, mineral, and earth notes. This brilliantly made, super-concentrated,... Read More
Only 55% of the harvest was utilized for the 1997 Mouton-Rothschild. One of the most forward and developed Moutons over recent years, it possesses all the charm and fleshiness this vintage can provide. A blend of 82% Cabernet... Read More
Now don't get me wrong, 88 points signifies a very good to excellent wine. But in the context of the vintage, not to mention what this wine should be, this is a disappointment. The 1997 tastes as if it were made from yields... Read More
The finest proprietary red produced by Pahlmeyer to date is their 1997 (a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and the rest Petit-Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec). Production is 3,300 cases, and the wine tips the scales... Read More
The moderately intense bouquet exhibits plenty of ripe blackberry and cherry fruit, in addition to spicy, mineral characteristics. There is considerable weight and volume, but the wine is tight, and nearly impenetrable, leaving... Read More
The 1997 Les Pavots originates from a hillside vineyard overlooking the Knight's Valley that has 23 acres planted with Bordeaux varietals. The 1997 blend consists of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 9% Cabernet Franc.... Read More
Saturated black/purple-colored, with stunning aromatics of blueberries, blackberries, licorice, and iron, this spectacular vintage port is one of the stars of the vintage. Extremely full-bodied, with silky tannin, spectacular... Read More
A sensational Yquem, 1997 may be this estate's finest effort since 1990 (although I would not discount the 1996 turning out to be nearly as good). The 1997's light gold color is accompanied a gorgeous perfume of caramel,... Read More